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2.84 AVERAGE
2.84 AVERAGE
This is very racist... but it’s also also slightly anti-racist sub-textually and it was written by a woman in the 17th century and my mind is blown
Well, that was... not really worth it.
A little exaggeration on my part, I suppose. It's kind of tedious and the ending? It's tragically significant, but also, I found, needlessly gory and yet ostensibly titillating at the same bloody (that's not just an expletive) time. And, needless to say, imperialism and racism are written all over it – unless you try to read between the lines, which can be done to some extent, and which I've tried to do. I don't want to dismiss the whole thing right off.
Still, the only way I can genuinely appreciate this story (aside from remembering it was authored by the first professional woman writer in England) is to believe that Behn was poking criticism at Europeans for their utter hypocrisy. Civilized as all get out, basically, but greedy liars every one. At least, that's Prince Oroonoko's experience. – Oroonoko who becomes Caesar, that is. I mean, really? What was she trying to pull with that one?
Not only does she show white man's bad side, she makes even their *good* qualities look like a bad side, next to the amazing "royal slave" and his darling Imoinda. Like I was saying, Oroonoko is everything that white man is and THEN some: he is honest and terrifyingly true to his word. I can feel a tautening thread of insanity each time Oroonoko is distrusted and betrayed by Europeans, even those who call themselves his friends. I feel the story's sadness, really I do. I just hope that Behn meant to shame Europeans for their ideals of 'civility' in this story, and not to glorify those ideals while amusing them her readership with some pathetic Oriental approach.
A little exaggeration on my part, I suppose. It's kind of tedious and the ending? It's tragically significant, but also, I found, needlessly gory and yet ostensibly titillating at the same bloody (that's not just an expletive) time. And, needless to say, imperialism and racism are written all over it – unless you try to read between the lines, which can be done to some extent, and which I've tried to do. I don't want to dismiss the whole thing right off.
Still, the only way I can genuinely appreciate this story (aside from remembering it was authored by the first professional woman writer in England) is to believe that Behn was poking criticism at Europeans for their utter hypocrisy. Civilized as all get out, basically, but greedy liars every one. At least, that's Prince Oroonoko's experience. – Oroonoko who becomes Caesar, that is. I mean, really? What was she trying to pull with that one?
Not only does she show white man's bad side, she makes even their *good* qualities look like a bad side, next to the amazing "royal slave" and his darling Imoinda. Like I was saying, Oroonoko is everything that white man is and THEN some: he is honest and terrifyingly true to his word. I can feel a tautening thread of insanity each time Oroonoko is distrusted and betrayed by Europeans, even those who call themselves his friends. I feel the story's sadness, really I do. I just hope that Behn meant to shame Europeans for their ideals of 'civility' in this story, and not to glorify those ideals while amusing them her readership with some pathetic Oriental approach.
challenging
dark
slow-paced
slow-paced
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Subtitled: 'The Royal Slave.' Which is a more apt title than Oroonoko, as the themes truly at stake in Behn's novelette are royalty and slavery. (Also, Oroonoko isn't even Oroonoko all the way through - he takes on the mantle of Caesar at the behest of his owners.)
Why this book has an average rating of less than 3 stars I don't understand.
I mean, I do.
But I don't agree.
In my opinion this text functions on both the entertainment and the academic level.
This is a searing tragedy, a shakespearian restoration drama in prose, and Behn weaves the tragedy and Romance of Oroonoko with underlying allegory to the Stuarts, musings on Monarchical power and the Divine Right and also a commentary on slavery itself.
Note: this isn't an abolitionist text - it's not 'anti-slavery' - but it is definitely not pro-slavery. It's an account of the people at the time acting the way the people at the time did.
The framed narrative does somewhat force the reader to interrogate and problematise issues of Orientalism, as the tale of Oroonoko is related to us by an unnamed woman who witnessed parts of his story, and had the rest related to her from our doomed Prince himself. Furthermore the narrator believes she is relating purely fact, which we know - as we are reading a fiction book - is not true, but this allows us to look deeper and consider the reliability of her tale:
Does Oroonoko actually kill a wildcat that had been terrorising the locals and survived seven bullets to its heart?
Did any of this even happen in the fictional world the narrator is inhabiting?
Does it matter?
(This is part of my reading list for university, and I cannot wait to be given the opportunity to discuss it in light of Derrida's Deconstructionism. The issue with writing is that it cannot be factual, because writing in itself is symbolic and therefore really we can even look at this text as an extremely early proponent of removing the binary opposition of fact vs fiction, and moving towards a hierarchy of truth.)
I digress:
This book opens up a lot of varied and significant discussions and Aphra Behn is an undervalued literary voice in my opinion (reviled by some contemporaries by the looks of some of the reviews at the end of my edition.) Slavery is the key element here, but Behn interweaves so much beneath the content of the book in her style that it is truly astounding.
Oroonoko is westernised by his owners when they rename him Caesar, yet when he is offered to return after rebelling he states:
'you shall see that Oroonoko scorns to live with the Indignity that was put upon Caesar.'
And if that ingenious deconstruction of the westernised oppression of slaves doesn't at least intrigue you, then all hope is lost.
PS: I will admit Behn's sympathies tend to lie with Oroonoko more due to his Royal status than his enslavement. I.E if he wasn't a Prince she wouldn't be batting her eyelids. Nonetheless, Oroonoko's tale can be read in light of the impact of slavery - which, unlike human sympathy - does not differentiate between the nobility and the laymen.
Why this book has an average rating of less than 3 stars I don't understand.
I mean, I do.
But I don't agree.
In my opinion this text functions on both the entertainment and the academic level.
This is a searing tragedy, a shakespearian restoration drama in prose, and Behn weaves the tragedy and Romance of Oroonoko with underlying allegory to the Stuarts, musings on Monarchical power and the Divine Right and also a commentary on slavery itself.
Note: this isn't an abolitionist text - it's not 'anti-slavery' - but it is definitely not pro-slavery. It's an account of the people at the time acting the way the people at the time did.
The framed narrative does somewhat force the reader to interrogate and problematise issues of Orientalism, as the tale of Oroonoko is related to us by an unnamed woman who witnessed parts of his story, and had the rest related to her from our doomed Prince himself. Furthermore the narrator believes she is relating purely fact, which we know - as we are reading a fiction book - is not true, but this allows us to look deeper and consider the reliability of her tale:
Does Oroonoko actually kill a wildcat that had been terrorising the locals and survived seven bullets to its heart?
Did any of this even happen in the fictional world the narrator is inhabiting?
Does it matter?
(This is part of my reading list for university, and I cannot wait to be given the opportunity to discuss it in light of Derrida's Deconstructionism. The issue with writing is that it cannot be factual, because writing in itself is symbolic and therefore really we can even look at this text as an extremely early proponent of removing the binary opposition of fact vs fiction, and moving towards a hierarchy of truth.)
I digress:
This book opens up a lot of varied and significant discussions and Aphra Behn is an undervalued literary voice in my opinion (reviled by some contemporaries by the looks of some of the reviews at the end of my edition.) Slavery is the key element here, but Behn interweaves so much beneath the content of the book in her style that it is truly astounding.
Oroonoko is westernised by his owners when they rename him Caesar, yet when he is offered to return after rebelling he states:
'you shall see that Oroonoko scorns to live with the Indignity that was put upon Caesar.'
And if that ingenious deconstruction of the westernised oppression of slaves doesn't at least intrigue you, then all hope is lost.
PS: I will admit Behn's sympathies tend to lie with Oroonoko more due to his Royal status than his enslavement. I.E if he wasn't a Prince she wouldn't be batting her eyelids. Nonetheless, Oroonoko's tale can be read in light of the impact of slavery - which, unlike human sympathy - does not differentiate between the nobility and the laymen.
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
sad
fast-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
There could've been a worse portrayal of the ethnicities, and is is from 1688.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Colonisation
Minor: Rape
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No